Getting Education Jobs: How To Become An Educator When You Work In Another field

by Neil Hanks
in Education
— 25 Oct, 2013

The education industry is desperate for intelligent individuals with a desire to provide our youth with the education that they need. If you are one of these people, but you have spent your career in another field, you can still become an educator in the very near future.

Prepare to Take Tests

Education jobs require that you prove your competency both as an educator and in your subject matter; this is why school districts have pre-certification requirements, mostly in the form of tests. Find out what is included in the tests and study that information.

Also, while you may have heard that some schools pay for the tests and most take care of certification, you shouldn’t bank on it; policies change every year, and not all schools will help you at all.

Show Schools Your Commitment for Education

To be an educator, you must have dedication. Showing this dedication will go a long way towards getting education jobs. Here are a few ways that you can both show your commitment and network with the education community:

Volunteer at local education events (exposes you to the education community at large)
Become a substitute teacher (helps to build your reputation in the classroom)
Tutor (gives you something to add to your education resume and potential references from parents)

If You Are a Male, Let Schools Know

In western society, male grade school teachers are a rarity. In many cases, this leaves male students without a positive male role model to influence them throughout the school day. Knowing this, schools work diligently to find male educators to fill that gap, but men simply don’t apply to education jobs in enough volume. That is why any male applicants should make an effort to ensure that the school is aware of your gender–especially if you have a unisex name.

However, you should not be so brazen as to list your gender on any application materials that do not request them. Instead, use a paragraph in your cover letter to explain how you are moving into an education career to become a male influence for students.

Rework Your Resume

Your education resume should be much different from your current resume. To rework it into a resume befitting a future educator, you will need to analyze each point of experience and write it in a manner that shows how it will help you in the classroom.

For instance, if you trained incoming employees in group settings, you could say, “Taught other employees in a classroom environment.”

As with any other profession, a great resume will go far in helping you to land education jobs.

Sign up for Job Sites

Schools want the best talent that they can find; as such, many education jobs can be found online. Many job sites keep a narrow focus on what type of jobs that they post.

Consider an Intensive Teacher Preparation Program

These programs give you intensive weeks long classroom preparation, and then they help you obtain certification and education jobs. Don’t worry about being qualified; these programs are specifically for professionals moving into education. You may be interested in the Masters of Education program offered by Western University.

However, while they do help, these programs are not a necessity for finding education jobs. Also, be aware that they often require you to sign a multi-year contract in exchange for their help and you don’t always have a choice with regards to where you teach.